Always
by HelenaForneck
Summary: A story about the lovely friendship between Lily Evans and Severus Snape.
1. Prologue, The weird boy

PROLOGUE: THE WEIRD BOY

His hair was long and dirty. His clothes didn't fit properly. The other kids would never talk to him – they'd call him weirdo and leave. Even though he didn't like them either, he felt like it'd be nice to fit in. And, after long years of loneliness a chance finally appeared.

A girl lived near his house. They were about the same age. She had bright green eyes and red hair and, just like him, she was able to do things most people couldn't. She was able to perform _magic_.

He was watching the red haired girl, who was called Lily and her older sister, Petunia. Lily was swinging higher and higher while her sister protested.

"Lily, don't do it!" she shrieked angrily.

He knew exactly what made Petunia protest: her sister was trying to reach a great height so that she could jump and fly safely to the ground.

And he knew exactly why Petunia complained about it: like most other people, she couldn't do it at all.

After Lily landed, she picked a flower from the ground and started to make its petals open and close. However, her sister got even angrier. "It's not right," she said, but she finished with "How do you do it?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" he said leaving his hiding spot, no longer able to hold himself in.

"What's obvious?" Lily asked, not understanding.

Excited about the moment he had been planning for, he started to explain. "I know what you are."

"What do you mean?"

"You're… you're a witch," he said quietly.

"_That's_ not a very nice thing to say to somebody!" Lily said, affronted, and he realized his plan was going wrong.

"No!" he started trying to fix the damage, make her realize it wasn't a bad thing. 'You _are_. You _are_ a witch. I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one, and I'm a wizard."

The simple mention of witchcraft made Petunia coldly laugh, and her tone was accusing. "Wizard! _I _know who _you_ are. You're that Snape boy! They live down Spinner's End by the river." She said to Lily."Why have you been spying on us?"

"Haven't been spying," Severus said defensively. "Wouldn't spy on _you_, anyway – you're a _Muggle_."

Neither of the girls knew what _Muggle_ meant, but Petunia could hear his tone and demanded that she and her sister leave immediately, who obeyed at once.

And a disappointed Snape was left alone, with quite a different outcome than what would've happened if the plan had gone right.

* * *

**AN: I like the prologue, even though it's in the books. Please forgive me for any mistakes, English isn't my first language and it's been sometime since I studied it. I really hope you enjoyed it and _review_ (:**

**Special thanks to shadow6116 who agreed to be my beta reader.**

******DISCLAIMER: Lily Evans (Potter), Petunia Evans (Dursley), Severus Snape and everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**


	2. Chapter 01, A Witch

CHAPTER 01: A WITCH

Severus tortured himself for a while. _Everything_ had gone wrong. How did that happen?

His mother tried to make him eat dinner, but he couldn't. Then, she tried to make him talk, but he refused to say a word.

It was impossible. He couldn't have failed like that.

When his mother finally gave up, he went to his room and collapsed on his bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

He had a weird dream. He was at Platform 9 3/4 , and Lily was there too, but she refused to talk to him. And, although he tried very hard to befriend the other kids, he was unable to talk to any of them. When he said anything, the words would come out wrong and he got closer to having new enemies rather than new friends.

But when he woke up, "Lily" escaped him in a whisper.

* * *

"A _witch_?" Lily's voice asked as soon as Severus closed the door behind him. She had been waiting for him to come outside. "How can you be sure that I am a _witch_?"

"Well…" Severus started to say nervously, "Can't you do things that are supposed to be impossible?"

"I-I… can." she said slowly, following his train of thought. "But there's got to be another explanation for that."

"I don't think so." he said. "I can do the same things you can and _I am _a wizard. So, you must be a witch."

Lily didn't seem to find any arguments to prove she wasn't a witch. Petunia had been very disturbed yesterday. She kept repeating that everything Snape said was "a bunch of nonsense" and that they should stop going to those swings, otherwise he'd continue to spy on them.

"How can you be sure _you're _a wizard?" Lily finally said.

'My mum is a witch." he said confidently. "And, in some situations, I can do magic."

"But isn't being a witch a bad thing? All the witches in the storybooks are evil."

"No, it's not like that!" Severus said, and she appeared relieved. "Of course there are bad witches and wizards, but there are a whole lot of them who are good!"

"Still, how can I be sure about it? Tuney thinks you're just making this up, because you have no friends."

"If you don't want to believe me, that's OK.' Severus said sadly, finally losing all hope. "Guess you'll be very surprised when your owl comes."

"Owl?" Lily asked, and her eyes had a glow he'd never seen before. "What do owls have to do with this?"

"Wizards use owls to send mail. Actually, they're very good at it and nice pets."

"But who'd send _me _an owl?" she asked, surprised.

"Hogwarts, obviously."

"What's Hogwarts?"

"It's just the greatest school for wizards in the world. I'm definitely going there." Severus said excitedly.

Lily fell into silence. It was nice to know that someone could explain all the strange things she did, but being a witch was to be too much for her. And what if she wasn't as magic as he thought she was? Maybe she wouldn't be accepted in Hogwarts...

"Don't worry." he said, almost as if he could read her mind. "Your letter will come if the headmaster has any sense. My mum told me they always have Muggle-born students there."

'Your mum's been there?'

"She and the rest of her family." he said slowly.

"What about your dad? Is he a wizard?" Lily asked, fascinated with the idea of a school like Hogwarts.

"No." Severus said reluctantly. "My mum just told him she was a witch after I was born. I don't think it pleased him very much…"

But when he finished, he realized Petunia was nearby.

"I think you should leave, now." he said, a little scared as the thin and long-necked girl approached. "If you want to hang out, just go to my house and ask for Severus…"

And with that, he stood up and started running just seconds before they heard Petunia yelling, "I told you not to go talk to him, Lily! That boy is obviously damaged! I mean, look at his clothes! They're big and small at the same time, the colors don't match at all and they're so dirty. I'd throw them away without asking!"

"Don't do that, Tuney." Lily said nicely. "I like him…"

He was unable to understand what followed after that, but amazing as it sounded, he had finally done it right.

* * *

**NA: First of all, I'd like to apologize for updating the wrong version of the prologue. The story is the same, but it was before the beta reader (is there a word for that?). Anyway, I've already replaced it.**

**Now, I'll talk/write about this chapter. It's still very short, but my first chapters are normally short – I have problems with developing beginnings. Still, I really like Lily saying that Severus is her friend, it's just so cute.**

**Even though I have grown attached to writing in Severus point of view.**

**I'd like to send a special "thank you" to shadow6116, my beta reader. I'm also sending a big hug to lady vonne who reviewed the prologue (I still haven't read your one shots, but I promise to do it as soon as possible), lynddsbeth and Rosel who added the story to their story alert, and geekygirl15 who added it to her favorites.**

**DISCLAIMER: Lily Evans (Potter), Severus Snape and everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**


	3. Chapter 02, The Letter

CHAPTER 02: THE LETTER

"Severus," a voice said from outside his room. "There's a girl at the door. She says she's your friend."

"What's her name?" he asked, remembering that he told Lily to come by if she wanted to hang out.

"I think its Lily." His mother said slowly. "I swear, if this is another prank I'm going to talk to her paren…"

"No mum!" Severus said quickly. "She _is_ my friend."

His mother looked stunned. For the first time in years, her son had a friend. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she only said the obvious. "Don't forget your coat and be home for dinner."

* * *

"You told me I could come…" Lily started when she saw Severus leaving his house. "I didn't mean to both…"

"You're not bothering me." He answered quickly. "Not at all."

If there was one word for what she felt when he said it was relief. It'd been two days since he said she could show up and she wasn't sure that he wasn't joking around about hanging out with her. He never hung out with anyone.

"What do you wanna do?" He asked in a friendly way, and he noticed that his voice had never sounded that way before and he liked it. Still, he looked down at his hands and twittered his fingers, feeling a little shy.

"Can you tell me more about Hogwarts?" Her eyes were glowing again.

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

'Everything!' Lily said in a way only an eleven year old kid would.

"As I told you, we'll soon get a letter saying that we've been accepted to study there. Then, we have to buy our things."

"What things?"

"My mum says that we need wands, ingredients for potions, cauldrons, books…" He looked up. "uniforms, and that sort of stuff…"

'Where do we find them?' Lily asked, fascinated.

Severus told her everything he knew about the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley and all the amazing things that were there.

"But I don't have any wizard money…" Lily said disappointedly. "How am I supposed to buy my things?"

"I _think_ you can change your _Muggle_ money in Gringotts, but someone will explain everything when your letter comes."

"So when _is_ my letter coming?"

"Very soon." Severus said after a few seconds of thought. "I'm not sure when. But we're both eleven, so we start Hogwarts this September."

The hours passed by so quickly, so when dinnertime arrived, they both felt as if they had only talking for a few minutes. Severus walked Lily to her house and, just before the door opened, he disappeared.

* * *

Lily made their encounters a daily routine. Every day right after lunch, she'd go to his house and they'd spend the whole afternoon talking about Hogwarts and magic. But one day, Lily was scared.

She and Petunia had a fight before she left to meet Severus. And, even though she didn't want to hurt her sister, as she got madder and madder, Petunia was hit by a vase that had flown across the room.

Frightened, Lily fled. She didn't say anything to Severus, but then he started to say something about underage wizards performing magic outside school. "… and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic outside school, you get letters."

"But I _have_ done magic outside school!" Lily said, remembering the fight she had with her sister that morning.

"We're all right." Severus said. "We haven't got wands yet. They let you off when you're a kid and you can't help it. But once you're eleven," He nodded importantly, "and they start training you, then you've got to be careful."

Lily was silent; he hadn't convinced her that it was ok to do what she had done to her sister. She didn't deserve whatever that vase did to her. The worst thought was that she – Lily – was the one who made that vase do that.

It'd be nice to have a wand, since when she had one, she'd probably be able to control those strange things. With that thought, she picked up a fallen twig and started to pretend to do a spell. Then, remembering everything her sister said that morning she dropped it. "It _is_ real, isn't it? It's not a joke? Petunia says you're lying to me. Petunia says there isn't a Hogwarts. It _is_ real, isn't it?'

"It's real for us." Severus answered. "Not for her. But we'll get the letter, you and me."

"Really?" she whispered with that dreamy look she had every time he mentioned the letters, the school, Diagon Alley…

"Definitely," he said, making Lily feel even more confident than him.

"And will it really come by owl?"

'Normally; but you're a Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents."

"Does it make a difference," Lily started to ask the one thing she didn't have enough courage for the answer, "being Muggle-born?"

Severus hesitated. Normally, he'd say that there was a difference. A _big_ difference. But, looking at Lily, with her bright green eyes, her dark red hair, he couldn't see anything wrong at all. "No," he answered, "It doesn't make any difference."

"Good," she said, relaxing, unaware that Severus would never say that there was something wrong.

"You've got loads of magic, I saw that. All the time I was watching you…" He stopped; it was obvious that she was not listening to him anymore. She looked up to the trees that surrounded them. He stared at her.

"How are things at your house?" She asked, aware of how uncomfortable he was on that subject. Severus didn't like talking about his family, and whenever Lily tried to find out something about them, he started do explain another fantastic topic on magic.

She, did, however, know that his parents fought a lot.

"Fine."

"They're not arguing anymore?" Lily asked, slightly hopeful.

"Oh, yes, they're arguing," he answered mechanically as he grabbed and destroyed a bunch of leaves. The change of subject didn't please him at all. "But it won't be that long and I'll be gone."

'Doesn't your dad like magic?'

'He doesn't like anything, much."

"Severus?"

He smiled as she said his name. He loved the way she said it.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about the Dementors again."

"What d'you want to know about them for?"

"If I use magic outside school –"

"They wouldn't give you to the Dementors for that!" Severus said quickly, trying to calm his friend. "Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too –"

He stopped as his face got red, and ripped some other leaves. Lily's expression became questioning, but then they heard a rustling noise.

When they both looked to see what had made that noise, they saw Petunia. "Tuney!" Lily said surprised, but welcoming, wanting her sister in their talk.

Snape reacted differently. "Who's spying now?" he shouted with the same tone she used before at him. "What d'you want?"

Surprised and bitter, Petunia tried to come up with something hurtful to say.

"What is that you're wearing, anyway?" she said, pointing at his chest. "Your mum's blouse?"

Snape was mad. And when wizards that haven't been properly trained get mad, bad things happen.

This time a branch cracked and caught the intruder on the shoulder, and she started to cry just before running back home.

"Did you make that happen?" Lily asked, very angry.

"No."

"You did!" She said, horrified, and took a few steps back. "You _did_! You hurt her!"

"No – no I didn't!" Severus said, feeling hopeless because he knew that she wouldn't believe him. In fact, it was only a matter of seconds before she ran home, back to her sister and away from him.

* * *

He'd been there for a while. His fingers touched the doorbell, but he lacked the courage to press it. _What if Petunia answered? Or what if Lily didn't want to see him?_

That thought made him feel sick. Now that he had Lily, he couldn't afford to lose her, it would just hurt too much.

Severus pressed the doorbell.

A tall red haired woman answered the door. She appeared to be Lily's mother. "What do you want, dear?" She asked kindly.

"Can you get Lily, please?"

"Oh, she isn't feeling quite well today." the woman said. "But, if you come in I can get her. Would that be ok?"

"Sure." He said trying to hide that he was on the verge of bursting into a happy dance.

"You can wait here while I get her." Lily's mum said as she climbed the stairs and headed to Lily's room.

In the meantime, Severus looked at the picture frames. They all contained family pictures and, in a lot of them, Lily and Petunia were together, as close as best friends and for a moment he felt bad for being the one thing they disagreed about. He didn't care much about his friend's older sister, but she did and it hurt him.

Lily's mother came back. "Lily says she doesn't feel like getting out." she said sadly and Severus felt his heart break. "Please, follow me."

The boy went up the stairs, and stopped at the third door and waited for Lily's mum to announce his presence. As soon as he was in a chair next to Lily's bed, she left to make some cookies.

"Lily, I'm sorry for the other day." He said after a few seconds. "I got mad, but I swear to you I never meant to hurt her."

"But you did hurt her, Severus. You did and now she's so mad at me." Lily said, tears filling her eyes.

"But she shouldn't be."

"Maybe, but I'd probably be mad if someone sent a branch on me." Lily said.

"I've already said I'm sorry for that, I couldn't help it. I was so mad at her, for trying to keep me from being your friend, Lily. I was so scared I'd lose you." Severus said, but he regretted saying it immediately. What if she took it the wrong way?

"You won't lose me, Severus. We're friends." she gave him a shy smile. "But I love Tuney as well. You don't know how I wish she liked you too."

He thought about saying he wished that too, but it'd be a lie and he felt bad about lying to her. So he just smiled back. "I'm so sorry, Lily."

* * *

"Severus!" His mother's voice yelled from downstairs. "You've got mail!"

Severus knew what this meant. The day he'd longed for so long had finally arrived. He had his own letter to Hogwarts. He had all he ever dreamed of.

The envelope had his name handwritten, and was closed with the school's emblem – the snake, the lion, the eagle and the badger. He opened it slowly, trying to make the moment last as long as it possibly could.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY__  
__Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE__  
__(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme__  
__Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Snape,__  
__We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts__  
__School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all__  
__necessary books and equipment.__  
__Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,__  
__Albus Dumbledore,__  
__ Headmaster_

Severus felt like jumping and dancing and screaming and telling to everyone who was alive that he had been accepted into Hogwarts. It was the single happiest moment of his life.

Being accepted into Hogwarts felt like fitting in.

* * *

Lily thought it was weird when the doorbell rang. It was about the time Severus usually showed up for their daily encounters, but he rarely rang it. When she answered the door, it was not her friend who stood there.

A woman who looked older than her mother stood there. She wore a long black dress and her hair was in a bun "Good afternoon." she said politely. "I am here to speak with Lily Evans and her parents."

Lily called her mother before letting the stranger in, but she was sure she was from Hogwarts.

"My name," the stranger said, "is Minerva McGonagall. I am a professor."

"What brings you here today, Professor?" Lily's father asked.

"Your daughter, Lily, has a place at our school."

"You must be mistaken." Her mother said, bringing a cup of tea for the professor. "We never signed her up for anything."

"I see." Professor McGonagall said very calmly. "But there's no need to sign her up in order for her to be accepted into Hogwarts. She was in our eyes since the day she was born."

"I beg your pardon, but I don't follow." Her father said.

'Hogwarts is a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry – we teach children magic."

"I'm sure there's been a mistake here," her mother said, not understanding why they seemed to think her daughter was a witch of some kind.

"There isn't one, mum." Lily said. "I've known about Hogwarts for a while."

"You have?" Minerva looked astonished.

"Yes." Lily said, realizing that it was not normal for a kid to know that.

"Who told you that, Lily?" Professor McGonagall asked after drinking a little more tea.

"A boy who lives nearby. He's my friend and is going there too." She answered ,afraid that Severus would be punished if the professor knew it was him.

"Oh, I see. He must have told you everything about our world." The Professor said kindly. "Normally, we send someone (like me) to help students who do not come from wizard families to buy their material, and if you want me to do so, I'll be happy to schedule a day, but I believe you'd rather do it with your friend." Lily smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "And I think you want to go out right now and tell him the great news while I explain everything else to your parents."

"I would love to, Professor!" Lily said, and she rushed out of the house to tell Severus that she was going to Hogwarts as well.

* * *

**A/N: Hello there (:**

**This chapter was hard to write and I really mean it, took me almost six months to do it (because I spent five and a half months not paying attention to it). See, I don't really like copying the book. I have to read the piece about three times before plotting how I'm doing it…**

**I like it better when I can make it all up!**

**Even though I'm not really fond of the first part of this, I really like it when they receive their letters, and Professor McGonagall going there. I just thought she was the best person to do it…**

**As always, special thanks to shadow6116, and everyone who has read this.**

**Review me, and live forever!**

**DISCLAIMER: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**


	4. Chapter 03, Diagon Alley

CHAPTER 03: DIAGON ALLEY

Lily ran to tell Severus that a teacher from Hogwarts was at her house, talking to her parents. She had never doubted anything he said, but she never thought that this day would come; it had felt so far away, so far in the future, she wouldn't live long enough to see it.

"Sev," she said, in the most excited tone ever. "You won't believe who's at my house right now!"

'Who?' He asked, already aware it as probably a professor.

"A professor – from Hogwarts!" She looked as though all her dreams had come true at once. "I can't believe it!"

"That's great!" He smile was as big as hers. "That means we're going together – you see, I also got my letter today!"

"Sev, our dreams have finally come true! On September 1st, we'll be on that train – heading to Hogwarts! Can you believe it?'

"I know," he said joyfully. "I told you it'd be like this. You and me, together at Hogwarts."

Lily came home late that day, and she had gotten so distracted talking about Hogwarts, she ended up forgetting about dinner. She didn't even remember she had a stomach to fill.

"Lily," her mother was sitting on the couch. She had been waiting for her, and she even had a book on her lap. It looked like she had waited for long time. "Where were you?"

Her mother was not mad, but Lily was still terrified. She had never gotten into trouble before. "I was with Severus, mum."

"Is he the boy the professor told us about?"

"Yes – he's my best friend." Lily added, as if she needed to prove he was a good kid. Petunia already thought he was troubled, she didn't need her mom to think so as well.

"I think you should invite him to dinner with us, Lily." her mother said, smiling softly. Then, she added, "I told the professor you're going to study at Hogdarts."

"Hogwarts, mum." Lily said gently.

"Excuse me, darling?"

"The school's name – it's Hogwarts, not Hogdarts."

"Oh," her mother said. "I told her you'll be attending Hogwarts, and she said she'll send you an owl tomorrow. You can tell her if you want to go buy your things with a teacher or by yourself. Do you know what that means?"

"The owl?" Lily asked, and her mother nodded. "Wizards use _actual _owls as mail and pets."

"Who told you that, sweetie?"

"Severus told me, mum. He knows everything about their world."

"It must be very interesting talking with him, but I'd like you to be home by dinner time, dear. You know that I'm not comfortable with you being outside when it's dark."

"OK, mum." Lily said, knowing this was her warning. Next time, she'd be in trouble.

"Now, go and take a shower. Your food is in the oven, and once you're ready I'll warm it up."

* * *

"Lily!" Severus started to say as soon as he saw the red haired girl sitting on his doorstep. "I'm so sorry about yesterday, I promise I'll never let you be late again…"

"Everything's OK, Sev." She got up and hugged him. His face got hot, and he felt like dancing and singing in joy. "Mum just asked me not to come home late again."

"Then what are you planning to do today?'

"I don't know. I thought we could go to the swings and play, or talk for a bit…"

"We could go to the park and walk around. What do you think?"

"Great! And later, you could go and have dinner at my house, Sev."

"…I don't know. I think your sister would be really mad if you invited me." He said, wishing with all his heart that he could say yes.

"But if you go there, she'll see how nice you are. And she can be friends with us!" Lily was so excited with the idea of him being friends with Petunia – and herself – that Severus couldn't find the courage to tell her how much he wished her sister never accepted him. He didn't want to share the very best thing in his life with anyone at all.

Let alone sharing her with someone as horrible as Petunia.

* * *

That evening, Severus came to the Evan's house with Lily, a smile hiding his jitters.

"Mom, I'm home!" Lily yelled as soon as the door closed behind them. "Sev, take off your shoes, please." She asked politely, following the rules her mother had made.

They both took off their shoes. Lily went into the kitchen after they washed their hands to look for her mother. Severus noticed that she liked to live by the rules.

Her mother looked a lot like her, with the green eyes, the red hair and beauty he had never seen before. She was finishing dinner when Lily introduced him.

"It's nice to meet you, Severus. Lily's told me a lot about you." she said while pouring chocolate fudge over a cake.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Evans." Severus said, trying to remember everything his mother had ever taught him about how to speak with other adults and politeness.

"Mum!" Petunia's voice came out. "What's for dinner?" An excited Petunia rushed into the kitchen, but her smile deflated when she saw their guest. "What's he doing here?"

"I've been invited." Severus said, forgetting everything about being-nice-to-Lily's-family-before-they-all-hated-him-as-much-as-Petunia-did.

"_You_? Invited to _my_ house?" She said and laughed. "I don't think so!"

Severus was about to answer that with as much wizard swearing he knew, but stopped when saw the look on Lily's eyes. They pleaded him not to ruin such a nice night.

"Petunia," Mrs. Evans said before it got any worse. "Be nice to Lily's friend."

"I won't be nice to him, mom. He's a freak."

"Then, you should go to your room." She said and Petunia ran away. And Severus knew, by the way Lily was looking at him, that she had realized the three of them would never be friends. And she'd have to accept that.

He asked Merlin if he was the chosen one.

Severus followed Lily to the living room, where they talked a little bit about Hogwarts, but she wasn't as happy as usual.

When dinner was ready, they were both called to the dining room. Lily's father was sitting at the corner of the table and looking straight at Petunia. He had blonde hair and dark eyes, so his daughter resembled him a little bit, though the girl was more like her mother.

"You must be Severus," He said kindly.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Evans."

"I say the same." Mr. Evans said before turning his gaze towards his oldest daughter. "I believe you have something to tell him as well, dear."

Petunia didn't look happy at all, but she did as her father said. "I am sorry, Severus. I shouldn't have treated you like that." she said, making sure he got the picture: she wasn't sorry at all. Not a single bit.

"That's more like it, honey." Mr. Evans said. "Daisy, dear, do you need help?"

"Oh, sure." a voice came from the kitchen. "Girls, can you come help me?"

It was a matter of seconds before dinner was served and everyone, even a revolted Petunia, was engaged in joyful conversation.

"So, Severus," Lily's dad said as soon as he had his first bite of his chocolate cake, "I was wondering if you'd like to come along with us to buy your stuff for Hogwarts. We're planning to take Lily there next weekend and we've got room for one more in the car."

* * *

"Severus, thank Merlin you're safe," his mother said as soon as he came in. "I was worried sick about you, son." she hugged him tightly and started walking him towards his room.

"I'm fine mom," He said, trying to squirm out from her arms. "I'm only late because Lily invited me to have dinner with her family."

Eileen Snape simply smiled.

"Oh, dear Merlin – yesterday you were just my baby boy and now you'll soon be at Hogwarts and in love." She sighed, remembering the good times. "My little Severus…"

"Stop it, mum' the boy said, very annoyed. "I'm not in love with her, she's my best friend."

"Dear, that's how the best love stories begin."

Severus couldn't quite decide how to respond to that and, for a few seconds, he imagined himself, as a highly successful wizard, with Lily by his side. And for the first time he thought that, someday, he might be happy. "Nothing like that is happening, mum."

"If you say so, dear."

"Anyway, her parents invited me to tag along to Diagon Alley next weekend." Severus entered his room and grabbed his pajamas. He really disliked them and thought they made him look like an idiot. "How am I supposed to make friends at Hogwarts wearing this to sleep, mum?" The boy asked, really frightened.

Eileen looked at her son and gave him a sad smile. "Look, Severus, I've been saving some money for you. If you want to, I can take you to a store as soon as you get back from London."

"You mean I can go with them, mum?"

"I know how much she means to you, darling," Eileen said, brushing her son's black hair. "And I want nothing but your happiness, you know that."

Severus smiled. Despite all the horrible things his father did and said, his mother always tried to be the best she could.

* * *

"Eileen!" Severus woke up when he heard his father shouting. "When the hell do you plan on taking the boy to London?"

The boy got out of bed, thinking about how great it would be once he was off to Hogwarts. That was probably the only reason he wasn't mad already.

"_We're_ not taking him anywhere." Eileen started, when her son arrived at the kitchen. "He's going with a friend."

"Since when did_ I_ let him go with _a friend_?"

"Since when do you take any interest at all in him, or in magic?"

Severus left his unfinished breakfast and sneaked out of the house. How he wished his parents were proud of him, or that at least they'd stop fighting for a moment. When alone, they weren't that bad. But together, they felt like bombs about to go off all the time.

How on earth was a child supposed to learn to love in a house like that?

Saturday morning took forever to arrive; the last minutes were the worst of all. Severus could tell it, because he was unable to close his eyes for even a second – let alone sleep. All he could think about was traveling to London, with Lily and buying his stuff for Hogwarts.

Once the sun started to rise, he threw his sheets away from the bed, walked across the small bedroom, picked his best clothes and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

It took no time at all for him to be cleaned, dressed and fed. His mother, who was woken up by the eleven year old boy's loud singing, kept trying to make him change his t-shirt. She wanted him to wear one she bought a while ago; it was large and white and had navy blue short sleeves. He didn't need Petunia to tell him how hideous he'd look wearing it.

"I'm not wearing it, mum."

"Are you sure, dear? You'll look lovely wearing it!"

"Sure, mum," Severus said and left, wondering how his mother could not know how an eleven year old boy was supposed to dress. She worked a lot, but she still saw a little TV while his father wasn't around.

Walking to Lily's house, he felt very happy about the fact that his father wouldn't be there to ruin one of the happiest days of his life – the day he would buy his first wand, his first magic books and his robes. One the days he'd been dreaming of since he could remember.

He pressed the doorbell and soon Mrs. Evans was standing in front of him. "Good morning, Severus," she said with a big smile on her face. "Lily's just finishing her breakfast and we'll be off to London in no time. Why don't you come in?"

He was led into the kitchen by Mrs. Evans. Petunia and Lily were eating pancakes and seemed to be having a great time. "Lily, you've got a visitor."

"Good morning, Sev." her smile was so big it made him want to smile too. And he rarely smiled. "Would you like some pancakes?"

"No, thanks."

"More for me," she said, going back to her plate and laughing at something her older sister had just said.

"Daisy dear, did you get the address the professor left us for the shops?" Mr. Evans came into the kitchen. "Hello, Severus."

"Mr. Evans."

"Are we all ready to leave?" Mr. Evans was getting a few bottles of water from the refrigerator.

"I'm just finishing here and the girls need to brush their teeth." Mrs. Evans was now washing the dishes and humming. "Roderick, are you sure you have her letter and everything?"

"It's all in the car. I've already checked."

Once they were all inside the car, Mr. Evans turned on the radio and drove off. Lily sat between Severus and her sister. After several (failed) attempts to make them talk to each other, she started to tell her parents how excited she was about going to buy her stuff for Hogwarts.

The way to London was eventless. Petunia kept to herself and so did Severus; he didn't want to disturb the peace by hitting his best friend's sister's nerve. When the car was parked, they headed to a very strange pub called Leaky Cauldron. His mother had told him everything about it; it was one of the ways to the most magical place in London: Diagon Alley.

The owner was behind the counter. "Hello there' Mr. Evans said, very anxious to make contact with someone from the wizard community. "My name is Roderick Evans and I'm looking for Diagon Alley."

"My name's Tom." The old man smiled and shook Mr. Evans' hand. "I own the place. I'll take you to the alley."

With that, they followed Tom to the back of the pub, to a brick wall. He took out a wooden stick and touched one of the bricks, which suddenly became an arch showing a street beyond. Lily and Severus looked at each other in amazement, Petunia stood there in shock, and Mr. and Mrs. Evans simply smiled at their youngest daughter in delight.

"I think your first stop would be Gringotts, sir. You can change your _muggle_ money there." Tom said before leaving, and the arch shrunk behind him.

Gringotts was a white building which looked very old; as old as everything in the magical world seemed to be. When they reached the door, a small creature with big feet and hands opened the door and bowed to them. "Is that a real goblin, Sev?"

"Sure is."

Inside, there were about a hundred of those creatures, sitting on elevated benches and writing with feathers in huge books. "Good morning, sir." the nearest of them said. "What can I do for you today?"

"We need a currency change." Mr. Evans said. He turned to Severus. "Do you need something else, son?"

"I need to enter a vault." the boy said, with a tone of importance.

"Do you have the key, sir?" The goblin asked. Severus pulled a key out from his pocket, and the goblin took it from the boy's hands. "It seems all right. I'll call someone to take you there, wait just a moment. Kolb!"

Kolb was another goblin who was much nicer than the one at the door. "Where are we heading?"

"The Prince Family vault."

Severus followed the goblin to a cavern, and there were tracks there. The goblin whistled, and a cart came rushing towards them.

They climbed up and it started going faster and faster, and soon it was making dozens of turns. In the beginning, Severus tried to make sense of where he was going, but at some point he just decided to enjoy the ride. Suddenly, the cart stopped and the goblin opened a small door.

Inside the vault there were some piles of gold and silver; more than enough for him to buy his materials to all Hogwarts years. Severus took a small amount of gold from the pile and some silver coins; his mother had told him not to spend all the money at once. If he did, she might not be able to replace it in time.

"Are you ready, sir?" The goblin Kolb asked as soon as the boy left the vault with a little bag filled with coins. Severus nodded and climbed up into the cart, waiting for it to gain speed.

He was a little green when they got off again, and thanked Merlin he didn't finish his breakfast, and he met the Evans just outside the bank. "Now, kids, where do you think we should go?" Mr. Evans was reading Lily's letter and trying to make sense of everything he needed to buy.

"Let's go buy the robes first." Mrs. Evans said, looking at a rather empty shop called _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_. A bell tinkled when the door slid open and, in no time, a lady rushed to them.

"Hogwarts, dears?" She looked at the children. "I think these two are first years, but I wonder… which house are you in?" her gaze met Petunia's, and the girl simply rolled her eyes.

"I don't go there."

The lady just smiled and turned to the other two. "I'll take you, and someone will take your measures and adjust the uniforms."

Soon, Lily and Severus each had an old lady bringing several shirts and cloaks.

"Any of you know which house you'll be in?" The lady who was adjusting the length of Lily's skirt asked.

"Not yet, but I want to be in Slytherin with him."

The lady nodded and continued her work, too focused on it to say that she was thinking it was very hard for a muggle born student to get into Slytherin.

* * *

It didn't take long for everyone to leave Madame Malkin's shop and head for the bookstore. The hours that followed seemed to pass in only seconds, and soon the only thing they needed to buy was wands. The only shop that sold them was very small and its name was Ollivanders. The seller was Ollivander himself.

" Do I see three more students of Hogwarts?"

"Just two." Lily said, wishing the man hadn't made that comment. She knew her sister was not enjoying any a minute of this. Here, _she_ was the outcast.

"Oh, I see." His eyes were such a light blue, they appeared silver. "I think you should go first, then, young lady. What is your name?"

"Lily Evans, and he's Severus Snape."

"Oh, I was wondering when I'd meet Eileen's son." the man said, taking a look at the boy standing in front of him. "I remember her first wand, a very nice one. But I'm not sure about your father…"

"He's a _Muggle_, sir."

"I see." Mr. Ollivander said, and he started to measure Lily's arm in lots of different ways. Soon the tape measure was measuring on its own, and he was going around the shop, gathering small boxes that seemed to fill every surface inside the shop. "Let's try this one." He handed one wand to Lily. "Try it! Twelve inches, cherry, unicorn hair."

Lily waved it enthusiastically, but nothing happened. "No, this one won't do."

It took them a few more tries for a wand to make colorful sparkles in the air when she waved it. "Oh, a very nice wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, made of willow a unicorn hair core. Very nice for charms." Mr. Ollivander took the wand and packed it. "Now I'll get to you, Mr. Snape." the old wizard said, enchanting the tape and putting the rejected wands back while collecting others.

Just like Lily, Severus's first try wasn't successful and it took him a few times until green sparks flew out the wand with a wave. "Powerful wand, meant for powerful spells. Thirteen inches. Ebony with dragon's heart string. Very nice, Mr. Snape." Ollivander packed that wand as well.

With everything packed, the five of them stopped for a snack, and then left Diagon Alley and London behind.

* * *

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry for taking this long to post this chapter. I've been very busy in the last weeks getting myself ready for college (my classes were paralyzed for about a month, because of political issues), spending some nonsense time freezing at the beach, falling in love with the kitten I adopted, turning eighteen (which is kind of big where I live), and putting myself to the torture of learning how to drive in Brazil, we have an unnatural amount of theoretical classes in which we have absolutely nothing to do!

Enough with complaining, let's get down to business. I like this chapter and I think it has good length, so I'm happy with it. I do writing Petunia, and I can't wait to start Vernon - it may take ages, in my writing speed.

I just have one more comment: I know Kolb isn't a goblin's name, but I needed to do it, there's a real Kolb who was my mathematics teacher and looked so goblin-like. Every single fanfiction I write with Gringotts, has to have this goblin! And don't have much more to say about it, I'm so tired I can barely think.

As always, I'd like to thank shaddow6116 for being my beta reader.

Finally, I get to the last part: Read and review.


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